Helping hurricane victims: Do’s and don’ts

With the East Coast still reeling from Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton bearing down on Florida, many people are wondering how best to assist the communities affected by these disasters.

The best way to help is to provide financial donations through trusted sources. For those looking to support the veterinary community and help affected animals, donating to the American Veterinary Medical Foundation (AVMF) is a great way to target your aid.

The AVMF has a long history of helping animals and veterinary teams in the face of disasters. Two AVMF grant programs directly assist those who are impacted:

• Disaster reimbursement grants repay AVMA member veterinarians for the costs of providing emergency care to animals in disasters, thus ensuring these animals have access to quality care when they need it.
• Disaster relief grants help pay for basic necessities-like food, shelter, and clothing-when veterinarians, their team members, and veterinary students suffer personal losses.

If you can afford a financial contribution to the AVMF, your funds will go a long way to help both people and animals caught up in disasters.

Donate now

Do not send unsolicited in-kind donations. Unless you have been contacted directly by a specific organization asking for specific supplies-and there is a way to have a commercial carrier deliver those supplies-shipping in-kind supplies can actually worsen a crisis. That's because it diverts both people and space that are in short supply.

Requests for on-the-ground veterinary help

The only state currently requesting out-of-state veterinary assistance is North Carolina. Interested veterinary professionals can find information about helping with the North Carolina recovery effort here. Ideally, individuals who volunteer should have completed veterinary first responder training, such as the AVMA Veterinary First Responder Certificate Program.

If you're interested in investigating what any state's laws and regulations are in regards to out-of-state veterinarians working there in a disaster situation, you can contact the state's licensing board or the state veterinary medical association.

Preparedness saves lives

Disaster preparedness can save lives. Find these and other tools at avma.org/Disaster to help plan and prepare for potential disasters.

• Pets and disasters
• Large animals and livestock in disasters
• Emergency contact cards for pets and livestock
• Emergency planning for veterinary practices

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